LinkedIn at the Tate, an Olympic torch-bearer and Prosecco in a menswear shop

So the Olympics have kicked off! As you know I’m not a sporty person, although over the past few months I’ve sailed (kind of), swum (kind of), wobbled along on a bike and strolled through forests and parkland – anywhere that promises the adrenaline thrill of a cream cake and a hot chocolate at the end of the journey. I’m actually writing this blog in the sunshine outside Konditor and Cook at Spitalfields, enjoying an apricot and honey cheesecake crumble while I wait for a networking event to start at 6pm.

One thing that has drawn me to paying attention to this year’s Olympics was the fact that my friend and business associate Dieneke was a torch-bearer! I logged on to Facebook one morning, stunned to see her smiling face holding the torch aloft as she ran through the streets of Rio. She’s an inspirational woman for various reasons and quite deserving of the honour.

We worked together a couple of years ago on a special project. Dieneke ran a competition for the 1000 or so British designers that she supports through her website, Hidden Art. Mark and I had the privilege of delivering 121 workshops to the three winners – his on business strategy and mine on social media marketing. The whole thing was great fun. The formula was similar to the workshops I’ve been providing this month to growth businesses in the city, although these focused more on professional profiles on LinkedIn than general social media.

One of my favourite 121 sessions this week was with a lady called Melissa that I worked with in the Tate Modern members’ room. It’s a brilliant location to meet; the view’s amazing and the cakes are delicious. After our session on social media marketing we called in to the gallery to view the Georgia O’Keeffe retrospective. It’s wonderful – if you get a chance you should go. Her landscape paintings have an ethereal quality, and the flowers for which she’s famous are highly stylised and bold, yet also beautiful, swirly and delicate.

And my favourite non-work activity this week was 30 minutes of Jesus Christ Superstar at the gorgeous Open Air Theatre in Regents Park. The heavens opened that day, but Philip had the good sense to take sailing gear, so we dressed hysterically in muddy waterproofs and watched the cast battle against the elements to entertain as best they could. Consummate professionals, they sang and danced with their clothes clinging to them like a wet t shirt competition in the 80s, rain pouring down their faces. The show was called off as it became a danger for them to perform, so hopefully we’ll be luckier with the weather when we return next week.

Jesus has been topical this week, as I’ve prepared my poetry for the upcoming ‘100 Madonna’ exhibition, which will be held from 5 – 18 September at the Crypt Gallery in Euston. More info to follow in due course but, if you like art exhibitions, please diarise this one – it’s going to be fab!

Since writing all that, I’ve been to the networking evening – it was brilliant. Michelle Peters, a business instructor for lawyers and other professionals, arranged it with Oscar Bencivenga, owner of a gorgeous Italian menswear store in Spitalfields. (I love the photo of the Bencivenga family almost as much as the fabulous clothes.) I’ll be returning with the boys – although I’m guessing there won’t be Prosecco and canapés during the working day. Could be wrong though; there’s a DJ on Friday nights during late opening hours, as the area’s buzzing and customers call in after work.

Not sure if that DJ plays this, but I still do… “He’s searching, she’s showing; see him held in a deep deep spell, he knows she’s glowing. I can find within my mind a way to go… I can look deep into your light and shout ‘Hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me, hold me.” If you’re looking within your mind for a way to go with your business – and that way is forward, let’s chat about how social media can help you get there. You can hold on to clients whilst you meet new ones! Call me to find out more, or ask me here: @WeekendWitch.

Recent blogs

Renée’s book: The Colours Inbetween

A collection of blog posts about building a small business, social media, networking, pink wine, stockings, music, fun & the 80s
Buy from Amazon or Smashwords

Happy clients say…

Renée is an amazing writer who is the author of some fantastic blogs… very informal and conversational, she talks TO the reader rather than at them. She uses a lot of humour, she doesn't take herself too seriously and isn't scared to laugh at herself; a bit of naughtiness included too for added spice(!)… I asked Renee to help me understand SEO and how to improve my site. We had a one to one session in which she explained in detail everything I needed to know. Her explanation was clear and fully understandable, which was great for me as I had no previous knowledge of SEO or social marketing. I left our meeting confident of what I needed to do in order to boost my site, which is exactly what I wanted to gain from the session... Renée is the most friendly and professional person I have ever worked with. She is an asset to any company and brings a new insight into training. I would strongly recommend Renée to any company wishing to grow and to improve staff performance… Renee is the ultimate networker and is happy to share her contacts for the benefit of others. She is very knowledgeable and has a great network of contacts... Renée creates fantastic web content and writes our twice-weekly blog. Being results-driven, she has succeeded in increasing traffic referrals to our website and raising us swiftly through Google rankings. She also runs our social media marketing campaigns effectively and handles all related staff training in a relaxed and lively manner. She’s great to work with and bakes nice cakes!... I have received great compliments about Renée from those attending the Mildmay Job Clubs... Renée has made valued contributions to our key School Policies (such as The Equality and Diversity policy and The Learning and Teaching policy). She is extremely professional, she has a great eye for detail and can empathise with the target audience. She ensures what is written is a true reflection of what is going to happen or what needs to be said whilst encompassing all stakeholders in the process... Renée’s writing is clear and concise and we have used this in our accountancy practice to produce professional letters to our clients that they can understand. All our team are unanimous when we say Renee is a pleasure to work with and we are looking forward to continuing our strong relationship... A professional and well organised outfit that exceeded expectations. Excellent feedback from the client group who asked for more of the same... Renée has a very good reputation among learners and staff. Her learners benefitted from her expertise. She has a very good outcome from her learners. We are very happy to have Renée as part of our team at Redbridge Institute of Adult Education... Renée has a very relaxed style and is able to get on with colleagues at all levels. She is able to engage very diverse audiences when training, which she delivers in a very user-friendly way. I am more than happy to talk to any potential clients…Personable, expert, high integrity... Delegates came away from the training sessions with vital new skills and a better understanding of how they could communicate more clearly… Renée was able to run these sessions in such a way as to make them both informative and enjoyable. I was remarkably impressed with Renee’s professionalism and expertise and can honestly say that she helped us achieve 100% of the targets we had set ourselves. I would have no hesitation in recommending her… Renée demonstrates outstanding oral presentation skills and has an enthusiastic approach to the subject which promotes motivation and participation between learners... Highly effective identification of individuals' learning needs, excellent support provided as appropriate: one-to-one or as a group...
.